Welded frame for opposed piston internal combustion engines



U i ed St es. Pet fi Q 73cc WELDED FRAIVIE FOR OPPOSED PISTON INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES Johan Erik Johansson, Goteborg, Sweden, asslgnor to Aktiebolaget Gotaverken, Goteborg, Sweden, a corporation of Sweden Application April 18, 1955, Serial No. 502,137 Claims priority, application Sweden April 28, 1954 2 Claims. (Cl. 123-195) This invention relates to a welded frame for opposed piston internal combustion engines in which supporting members arranged between the engine cylinders and extending at right angles with respect to the longitudinal direction of the engine are interconnected, at their upper and lower portions, by longitudinally extending troughshaped beams having their open ends directed away from the central portion of the frame, and in which the supporting members are provided at their central portions with members for fastening the engine cylinders.

The object of the invention is to provide an improved construction of a frame of the type indicated by reinforcing the parts of the supporting members located between the trough-shaped beams such as to obtain a lightweight structure with increased resistance to occurring stresses.

In the annexed drawing there is illustrated, by way of example, an embodiment of the invention as applied to the frame of a multi-cylinder internal combustion engine of the opposed piston type. Fig. 1 illustrates a crosssectional view of the frame between two cylinders, and Fig. 2 a side view of a section of the frame. The frame is made up of a plurality of supporting members arranged between the engine cylinders, each supporting member comprising two tubular uprights 1 and 2. At the upper and lower portions of the frame there are provided two trough-shaped beams 3 and 4, respectively each comprising a base 5 and two sides 6 and 7, said beams extending throughout the length of the engine. The uprights are connected with the beams by means of transversely extending beam-structures 8 for the crank shaft bearing and by means of welded joints at the places where the uprights pass through the bases of the beams. Midway between their ends, the uprights are connected with members 9 and 10 for fastening the engine cylinders. The cylinders are dimensioned and arranged in a manner such as to be able, in the conventional manner, to be introduced through, and supported by openings 11 in the bases of the beams.

The uprights 1 and 2 are further interconnected and braced by means of reinforcing members 12 and 13 arranged cross-wise with respect to each other and located at the places between the trough-shaped beams and the fastening members. In order to secure proper co-operation of the various parts, the sides of the beams are sloping such that an imaginary extension of each side meets a fastening member on the upright located on the opposite side with respect to the longitudinal central plane of the engine.

"The reinforcing members 12 and 13 consist of sheetirons the ends of which enclasp about half of the circumference of the uprights and are welded thereto. The reinforcing member 12 constitutes a direct elongation of the beam side 7 and extends to the fastening member 10, whereas the reinforcing member 13 constitutes an elongation of the beam side 6 and extends to the member 9. One of said reinforcing members is made up of a single piece, whereas the other one consists of two parts which are welded to the first one. The central portions of the uprights are further interconnected by a horizontal reinforcing member 14, and the other parts are further interconnected by suitably devised sheet-metal members 15, 16, 17 and 18. The last named members may alternatively be replaced by a single central sheet-metal memher, in which case all of the members 12 and 13 are divided into two parts welded to said central member on opposite sides thereof.

The torsional and bending stresses occurring in the frame are markedly intense at the outer free edges of the longitudinally extending trough-shaped beams. Due to the construction according to the invention the forces acting upon said edges are directly transferred to the central portion of the frame.

The embodiment described represents merely an example of the invention the details of which may be varied Within the scope of the appending claims. The supporting uprights are advantageously tubular and may have any suitable shape in cross-section. Alternatively, they may be replaced by sheet-metal webs extending between the upper and lower end of the frame. In this case, the reinforcing members may consist of fins or ribs welded to the web or of grooves impressed in the web.

What I claim is:

l. A welded frame for multi-cylinder internal combustion engines of the opposed piston type, comprising supporting members arranged between the engine cylinders and extending at right angles with respect to the longitudinal direction of the engine, fastening members provided on said supporting members at the central portions thereof to carry engine cylinder units, longitudinally extending crank case parts interconnecting the upper and lower portions, respectively, of said supporting members, each of said crank case parts having a base and two sides, said base having a width substantially equal to the width of the supporting members and being provided with openings for receiving the end portions of the cylinder units, said sides diverging outwards from the base at such an angle, that an imaginary extension of any of said sides meets a fastening member located on the opposite side of the supporting member, and reinforcing members being arranged with respect to each other between said crank case bases and said fastening members, said reinforcing members constituting substantially rectilinear connections between the crank case sides and the fastening members.

2. A welded frame for multi-cylinder internal combustion engines of the opposed piston type, comprising supporting members each including two parallel uprights arranged between the engine cylinders and extending at right angles with respect to the longitudinal direction of the engine, fastening members provided on said supporting members at the central portions thereof to carry engine cylinder units, longitudinally extending crank case parts Patented Apr. 23, 1957 spectively, of said supporting members,'each of "said crank case parts having a base and two sides, said base having a width substantially equal to the width of the supporting members and being provided with openings for receiving the end portions of the cylinder units, said sides diverging outwards from the base at such an angle, that an imaginary extension of any of said sides meets a fastening member located on the correspondingly opposite side of the supporting member, and reinforcing sheet metal members arranged crosswise between said uprights, and enclasping at each end substantially half of the amsaaee circumference of said uprights, said reinforcing members constituting'substantially rectilinear connections between the crank case sides and the fastening members.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,245,810 Owens June 17, 1941 2,246,857 Owens June 24, 1941 2,416,045 Chapman Feb. 18, 1947 2,486,927 Chapman et al Nov. 1, 1949 

